o brien



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

T. OBRIEN.

TANDEM BIGYGLE.

N0. 386,601. Patented July 24, 1888.

n PETERS, PholwLvlhogriphcr. Wnthing'om D. C.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

T. O'BRIEN.

TANDEM BICYCLE.

N0. 386,601. Patented July 24, 1888.

NTTED STATES PATENT ()rrIcE.

THOMAS OBRIEN, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

TANDEM BICYCLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 386,601, dated July 24,1888,

(No model.)

To aZZ whom it 1 2mg, concern..-

Be it known that I, THOMAS OBRIEN, of the city and State of New York,have invented an Improvement in Tandem Bicycles, of which the followingis a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide for three or four personsriding upon a bicycle tandem, or one in front of the other, and to alloweach one to aid in propelling the vehicle.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side eleva tion. Fig. 2 is a plan viewwith the seats re moved. Fig. 3 is a section of the mud-guard, in largersize; and Fig. 4 is a section of the mud-guard and elevation of aportion of the arch that supports the same.

The driving-wheel A and steering-wheel B are of any desiredconstruction. Usually they are made with wire spokes and a rubber tire.

The frame of the machine is usually tubular and brazed together. Thehorizontal bow 0 passes around the wheel A and receives the bearings Ofor the axle of said wheel A, and the arch 0 extends above the wheel andis connected to the how 0, and at the forward end of the bow Oisthespine D, extending up wardly and having a pivot-head, D, that isreceived into a jaw at the upper end of the fork E, having at its lowerend the bearings E for the axle of the wheel 13, and there is a quadrantspine, E extending from the upper end of the fork E to the horizontalhalf-bow E the rear ends 01' which are united to the bearings E. Theobject of this construction is to allow the riders to steer thetandem-bicycle without the use of a handle-bar in the manner well knownto experts.

I usually provide four seats, G H I K, the seat H being upon the spine Dand of any ordinary character, and the rider acts with his feet upon thetreadles L and cranks to the shaft of the steeringwheel B, and in sodoing aids in propelling the bicycle and in steering it without ahandlebar.

The seats G I K are each supported by cross springs 6 at the upper endsof the rods 7, that pass into the tubular standards 8, and are clampedby a screw or screw-collar, 9, after being adjusted, and these standards8 are connected with the arch C and quadrant spine E The hanging links MN O are pivoted at their upper ends to the respective seats G I K, andit is preferable to make these links in two parts, one of which is a rodand the other a tube receiving into it the rod, there being aclamping-screw to hold the parts when adjusted.

The connecting-rods M extend from the lower ends of the pendent links Mto the cranks L of the treadles L, and there are footpieces M for thefeet of the front rider.

The links N extend from the lower ends of the links N to thecranks Qupon the axis of the wheel A, and the links 0 extend from the lower endsof the links 0 to said cranks Q, and it is preferable to make each crankQ with an arm, as shown, so as to provide two crank-pins, one for thelink N and the other for the link 0.

The foot pieces or treadles N O are for the feet of the riders upon therespective seats I and K.

The handles G are preferably in the form of a bow pivoted to thequadrant spine E so that they can be turned up, as indicated by dottedlines,when the rider is mounting the seat G, and afterward turned downat each side of him forsteadying the person while riding, and it ispreferable to provide stirrnps 20 21 to aid the riders in mounting therespective seats G and K.

In order to steady the tandem bicycle while the riders are mounting, Imake use of the wheels R within a frame, S, that is pivoted at its upperend to the spine D, and these wheels are sufficiently distant apart tosteady the ma chine, and they can be swung backwardly and upwardly outof contact with the ground when the bicycle is in motion. Any suitabledevice may be made use of for holding and swinging thesesteadying-wheels; but I prefer to form crank-arms at the upper ends ofthe frame S, and to connect the same by the links S to the handles S",that are pivoted at 22 upon the spine D, the connection between theparts being that when the handles S are thrown up the steadying-wheelsIt will be swung down upon the ground, and when the rider upon the seatI swings said handles S downward the steadying-wheels R will be swungback ontof the way,and said handles S" can be held by the rider to aidin keeping him in position upon the seat I.

The riders upon the seats G I K propel the bicycle by a swingingmovement of the legs, the feet acting upon the respective treadles M Inorder to protect the riders from mud, the guards T T are applied underthe respective spines 0 D E Each mud-guard is made of a strip of canvasor leather fastened at the ends and at the edges to awire frame, 30,(see Fig. 3,) there being cross-pieces 31 brazed to the under side ofthe respective spines and connected at their ends to the wire frames.Thereby the mud-guards arelight and strong, and can be easily replacedwhen necessary.

A brake, U, is pivoted at 33 to. the spine D, and there is an armextending above the pivot with a cross bar, 34, upon which the foot ofthe rider can be placed to bring the brake into action against the tireof the wheel A. and there is a brake, U, for the steering-wheel B, saidbrake being pivoted at 35 to the frame E, and provided with a cross-bar.36, for the foot of the rider upon the seat G. Handle-bars are providedat H and O for the riders upon the seats H and K, respectively. Thehandle bar 0 is shown only in Fig. 1.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination. with the wheels A B.

of a frame composed of the bow O and arch C at the wheel A, the curvedspine D, rising r to the top upper end of the fork E and the seats G, I,and K, and the standards for supporting the same, substantially as setforth.

2. The combination,with the two wheels A B, and the frame connecting thesame pivoted at D, of the seat H upon the spine D, the crank L, andtreadles L, the seat G in front of the wheel B, the pendent links M, andcon- 1,0 necting-rods M. substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a bicycle, of two wheels and the frame forconnecting the same. the cranks, connecting-rods, pendent links, andtreadles or foot-pieces, and three seats, one in 5 front of the bicycle,one behind, and one between the two wheels, the pendent links beingconnected at their upper ends to the respective seats, substantially asset forth.

4. The combination, in a bicycle, of two 0 wheels, the connectirig-frames, the three seats, pendent links, treadles, and cranks, twosteudying wheels, a frame for supporting the same pivoted at its upperend to the spine D ofthe frame-workdinks connected to the frame, 5 andhandles for swinging the steadying-wheels down into position and raisingthe same, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 20th day ofOctober, 1887.

THOMAS OBRIEN.

Witnesses:

Geo. T. PINOKNEY, W ILLIAMG. MOTT.

